Bought a 65 plate XF Diesel Portfolio 5 months ago and after 3 months it developed a whining noise followed by an oil level warning. Very long story but after booking it into one garage who couldn't find any problems and subsequently calling a specialist garage who hadn't heard of anything similar to the description, I ended up in restricted mode, breaking down and being flat bedded home. Managed to get booked into specialist garage, they replaced turbo and EGR valve but say it needs a new engine block which are apparently very thin on the ground.

I can't afford a new engine block, can anyone offer any advice please?

What is the engine size?

what are the symptoms leading up to restricted mode?

what are the codes thrown up?

why did the garage say you need a new block? 

On 11/16/2021 at 7:21 AM, Bigvic said:

What is the engine size?

what are the symptoms leading up to restricted mode?

what are the codes thrown up?

why did the garage say you need a new block? 

Hi Bigvic, it was just the whining noise which became louder over a few weeks together with a low oil level warning. When I broke down (following restricted mode) the AA mechanic had an error report of EGR valve failure. He also said there was alot of oil in the engine which may have been the turbo sucking oil into the engine or me over topping up the oil due to the (dangerously low) oil level warning.

The garage fitted a new turbo and EGR valve to try and get the engine running. The engine now starts but cuts out when it gets warm, it doesn't sound the same as when I bought it. They said it needs a new engine block because of this.

Just now, First Jag said:

Hi Bigvic, it was just the whining noise which became louder over a few weeks together with a low oil level warning. When I broke down (following restricted mode) the AA mechanic had an error report of EGR valve failure. He also said there was alot of oil in the engine which may have been the turbo sucking oil into the engine or me over topping up the oil due to the (dangerously low) oil level warning.

The garage fitted a new turbo and EGR valve to try and get the engine running. The engine now starts but cuts out when it gets warm, it doesn't sound the same as when I bought it. They said it needs a new engine block because of this.

Thank you for your response! 

New engine block because it cuts out....sounds a little fishy to me.

For me the starting point here would be to check the actual level of oil.

If you have been topping up because of a low oil level warning (was it low oil level or low oil pressure?) but the AA say there is too much oil in the engine, top of the suspect list would be the oil level sensor mis-reporting the level.

Just to be clear though, did the AA say there was a lot of oil in the engine OR a lot of oil in the engine bay? The first indicating the engine is using or burning oil. The latter indicates an external leak. If the engine bay is full of oil then engine oil level may well have got very low possibly allowing the engine to run without sufficient oil damaging the bearings / bores / pistons but I think those things are only really apparent after at least a partial strip-down not after changing a turbo and EGR.

Other than totally destroyed bearings / pistons / rings etc the only reason I can see for a new block is that the old one is cracked; and that should produce very clear symptoms. Depending where the crack is you would expect at least one of the following:

Oil burning in the cylinder - Blue smoke in exhaust

Oil in Coolant - Mayonaise visible in coolant resevoir

Coolant in oil - Mayonaise look to oil (visble in filler)

Coolant in the cylinder - White exhaust (steam).

Minimum diagnostic, I would want, would be a compression test of each cylinder to verify location of a crack. When the engine does run is there any visible smoke?

Regards

John